Punjab Kings opener Prabhsimran Singh hit a maiden IPL century to set up a 31-run win against the Delhi Capitals, pushing David Warner’s team out of the play-off race on Saturday evening, while Lucknow Super Giants beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets.
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Punjab kept their play-off hopes alive after Prabhsimran hit 103 off 65 balls and guided his team to 7-167.
Harpreet Brar then returned figures of 4-30 with his left-arm spin as Delhi suffered a collapse to end on 8-136 despite a strong start from skipper Warner, who hit 54 off 27 balls — his fifth half-century of the tournament.
“The way we brought the game back was amazing,” Punjab skipper Shikhar Dhawan said. “Credit goes to the spinners and then the fast bowlers for closing it out.”
Punjab moved to sixth in the 10-team table led by holders Gujarat Titans. Delhi remain bottom of the heap and are out of the running.
Warner seemed to have taken the game away with his power hitting, but Brar led the spin charge, removing Phil Salt for 21 as Delhi slipped from 0-69 to 6-88.
Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar joined in to trap Mitchell Marsh lbw for 3 (4) before Brar struck twice in an over to dismiss Rilee Rossouw and Warner, who registered his 60th IPL fifty.
Tasmanian seamer Nathan Ellis, substituted in as an Impact Player, claimed two wickets for Punjab at the death.
Warner said his team had “found the right combination” during the tournament after a nightmare start.
Indian batter Prerak Mankad’s 64 (45) not out and a series of key partnerships including an crucial 58-run stand with Nicholas Pooran, who hit an unbeaten 13-ball 44, steered the team’s successful chase of 183 with four balls to spare.
Mankad first set the pace with a 73-run partnership with Australia’s Marcus Stoinis, who hit a 25-ball 40.
Mankad raced to his maiden IPL fifty before West Indies international Pooran smashed three consecutive sixes in a 31-run over to start his sparkling innings.
“It was an important game. I wasn’t happy because I couldn’t connect balls I should’ve connected, but in the end, I was happy with the result,” Mankad said
Earlier, Hyderabad’s Abdul Samad, who hit an unbeaten 37 (25) in a 58-run stand with Sunrisers batter Heinrich Klaasen, received a waist-high delivery that was called a no-ball by the on-field umpire but overturned on review.
The delivery appeared to be above the batsman’s waist but the review went in Lucknow’s favour, cancelling out the run and the free hit, with the home crowd venting their anger.
The match was briefly stopped as the umpires spoke to the Lucknow bench, including an animated coach Andy Flower, whose team moved back into the top four.
“Disappointed by the crowd to be honest, that’s not what you want,” said Klaasen after his 29-ball knock.
“That also broke the momentum, not great umpiring either, but you can’t take matters in your own hands.”
Klaasen was docked 10 per cent of his match fee for showing dissent after the controversial no-ball.
Indian young gun SMASHES 50 in 13 balls! | 02:54